How to Install VPN on Your Fire TV Stick (And Other Tricks)

Virtual private networks (VPNs) are most often used on computers and mobile devices. However, they are useful even on streaming sticks. With VPN, you can access any service locked by region like Hulu or view content from different regions via your streaming sticks. If you have an Amazon Fire TV Stick, using a VPN can open up a whole new world of content streaming and secure use.

While this allows you to legitimately access content from another region, you can also engage in secure web browsing using the native Silk browser or the Firefox browser. In this article, we will guide you among other things in the process of installing a VPN on your Fire TV Stick.

Does your Fire TV key need a VPN

You may be wondering why you might need a VPN on your Fire TV Stick. Well, the reasons are no different from the reason why VPNs are used on your mobile devices and computers.

On the one hand, a VPN allows you to use applications or services that you generally cannot access because they can be locked by region. With a VPN, you can bypass content geo-restriction to watch certain Netflix series and shows that are not available in your area. Security and privacy are another useful use case for VPN on a Fire TV key.

Suppose you are traveling on vacation with your Fire TV Stick and you need to use a VPN while connected to the hotel’s Wi-Fi. A VPN offers encryption that hides and secures your data from malicious fraudsters who seek to steal your information (passwords, personal data, etc.) over public Wi-Fi networks.

Finally, if you don’t want your Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to monitor your browsing or streaming activities – and other data that they sometimes sell to advertisers – a VPN is your best bet.

Installation of a VPN on Fire TV Stick

Before showing you how to install a VPN on your Fire TV Stick, we strictly recommend that you do not use a free VPN on one of your devices. Whether it’s your smartphone, tablet, laptop or Fire TV Stick. Free VPNs have a dark side, and we’ve covered everything you need to know about the (possible) dangers of using free VPNs. In this tutorial, we will show you how to download and use IPVanish on your Fire TV Stick.

We chose IPVanish because it is among the best VPNs for Fire TV Stick. To add, we’ll show you two different ways to install IPVanish (and other VPN apps of your choice) on your Fire TV Stick. Let’s go.

Method 1: From the Amazon App Store

The Fire TV Stick comes with an integrated application store powered by Amazon. It comes with tons of apps for the Fire TV Stick. To download a VPN from the Amazon App Store, follow the steps below.

Step 1: Go to the Search section of the Fire TV Stick and search IPVanish using the Fire TV Stick remote control.

Pro tip: Hold the voice button on your Fire TV Stick to activate voice search and ask Alexa to search IPVanish VPN (or any VPN of your choice). This saves you from having to type using the remote control.

2nd step: As you type, a few related suggestions appear under the on-screen keyboard. Select ipvanish in the results.

Step 3: Select IPVanish VPN in the “Applications and games” section.

Step 4: Select the “Get (Free to Download)” icon to install the VPN on your device.

Note: You can see a download icon (instead of Get) if you have already downloaded the app on a device connected to your Amazon account.

This downloads and installs the IPVanish VPN app on your Fire TV Stick.

Step 5: When the installation is successful, select Open to launch the VPN application.

For any VPN you have chosen to install on your Fire TV Stick, you will probably need to connect to your account (with the VPN client). You must therefore create an account with your VPN subscription before installing it on your Fire TV Stick. Otherwise, you cannot open an account directly in the Fire TV Stick version of most VPN applications. In addition, creating an account on the Fire TV Stick is quite troublesome.

Step 6: Enter your account credentials and log in.

When connected, use the VPN app as you would on your mobile devices and PC.

Method 2: Sideloading VPN

Side loading simply means installing an application on your Fire TV Stick from sources other than the integrated Amazon App Store. You may be forced to load an app if the VPN you want to install on your Fire TV Stick is not officially available on the Amazon App Store. You can download the configuration file from the VPN website and upload it to your Fire TV Stick.

Preparations for side loading

To do this, you must ensure that your Fire TV Stick supports the installation of applications from third-party sources. Here’s how to check.

Step 1: Go to the Fire TV Stick Settings menu.

2nd step: Select the “My Fire TV” option.

Step 3: Then select the developer options from the “My Fire TV” menu.

Step 4: Select the “Applications from unknown sources” option.

A warning warning you of the risk of installing and using applications from unknown sources will appear on your screen.

Step 5: Select Activate.

And that’s all. You can now install applications from other sources (for example, a website) on your Fire TV Stick. Don’t forget to turn it off after installing and activating the VPN app.

Sideloading the VPN

To install a VPN on your Fire TV Stick from a website, you will need a download agent that allows you to download files from the Internet. ‘Downloader’ is one of the best download clients for Fire TV Stick, and that’s what we would use to download the VPN configuration file from the IPVanish website.

Follow the steps below to find out how to download / upload the VPN configuration file to your Fire TV Stick.

Step 1: Go to the Search section of the Fire TV Stick and search for Downloader using the Fire TV Stick remote control.

Otherwise, press and hold the voice button on your Fire TV Stick remote control and say downloader.

2nd step: Select Downloader from the search results / suggestions.

Step 3: Select the Downloader application (as shown in the image below).

Step 4: Select the Get or Download button.

This will install the Downloader app on your Fire TV Stick.

Step 5: When the installation is successful, select Open to launch the downloader.

Step 6: In the address bar, enter the website URL or download link for the VPN app you want to load to your Fire TV Stick.

Step 7: To download IPVanish, enter the download URL – www.ipvanish.com/software/android/IPVanish.apk and press the Go button.

Note: The download URL for the IPVanish VPN app is case-sensitive. Be sure to note the capital letters and enter the URL as it is written above. The IPV in IPVansih must be typed in capital letters.

Step 8: The downloader continues to automatically download and install the VPN app on your Fire TV Stick. However, you must authenticate the installation. Now click on Install in the lower right corner of your screen.

Step 9: Do not open the application immediately after installation. Instead, tap Done.

This will bring you back to the downloader download panel.

Step 10: Now select Delete to delete the VPN configuration file from your Fire TV Stick. This saves space for other relevant files on your streaming key.

Step 11: Select Delete to confirm.

Now go back to your Fire TV Stick home page to launch the VPN. If you can’t find the app on the home page, go to Settings> Apps> Manage installed apps> IPVanish VPN.

Then select Launch Application.

Log into the app by entering your account credentials. In addition, the VPN app should now appear in the Recent section of your Fire TV Stick home page.

Uninstall a VPN from Fire TV Stick

If for any reason you no longer need to use a VPN on your Fire TV Stick, here’s how to remove / uninstall the app from your device.

Step 1: Launch the Fire TV Stick Settings menu.

2nd step: Select Applications.

Step 3: Then select “Manage installed applications”.

Step 4: Cliquez sur l’application VPN que vous souhaitez désinstaller.

Step 5: Sélectionnez Désinstaller.

Étape 6: Sélectionnez Désinstaller pour confirmer votre action.